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In Shringla’s Bangladesh visit, focus on bilateral cooperation, boosting connectivityBy Hindustan Times

Cooperation in areas such as connectivity, green energy, e-commerce and water-sharing figured in foreign secretary Harsh Shringla’s meetings with Bangladeshi officials in Dhaka on Tuesday.

Shringla, who is on a two-day trip to Bangladesh, will review wide-ranging bilateral cooperation and prepare the grounds for President Ram Nath Kovind’s state visit during December 15-17. Kovind will join the 50th Victory Day celebrations on December 16.

He held talks with his Bangladeshi counterpart Masud Bin Momen and met foreign minister AK Abdul Momen on Tuesday. Shringla will call on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday.

Following his meeting with Shringla, the Bangladeshi foreign minister told reporters in Dhaka they had discussed a number of “pending issues” between Bangladesh and India, including water-sharing and deaths in incidents along the border.

The foreign minister said Dhaka had urged New Delhi to expedite the process of holding the next meeting of the joint river commission to resolve water-sharing issues. “They gave us a formula to check unwanted incidents on the frontier,” he said.

He added India isn’t expected to make any move that could create cracks in the ongoing “golden chapter” of bilateral relations. “They also don’t want to see any incident that could make any kind of (crack) in Bangladesh-India relations,” he told the media.

“We have to solidify this relation…it is needed for the welfare of the people of both countries,” he added.

Talking to the media after his meeting with the Bangladeshi foreign secretary, Shringla said there is “no major difference in opinions” on pending issues between India and Bangladesh.

“We discussed the issues but we found no major differences…There are only areas to take forward. We are looking forward to how we can work on (resolving the issues),” he was quoted as saying by BSS news agency.

Masud Bin Momen said he and Shringla had a fruitful discussion on all pending issues during their meeting that lasted almost an hour, but didn’t give any details. “We also discussed how we can make our border peaceful,” he said.

Among the issues that figured in the discussions were connectivity, green energy, green technology and e-commerce, Masud Bin Momen said. Cooperation between the two sides for the Covid-19 response will continue as “Bangladesh cannot be safe if India is not safe and India cannot be safe if Bangladesh is not safe”, he added.

Shringla said connectivity projects between the two sides are going on well and five out of six historic rail connections have been restored and the sixth one will be completed this year. He said India wants to promote eco-friendly railway and water connectivity with Bangladesh.

He added that the Indian prime minister and the president had made Bangladesh the destination for their first foreign visit following the pandemic, and this shows the bilateral relationship is passing through a “golden chapter”.

Shringla also said New Delhi and Dhaka are working to arrange Prime Minister Hasina’s visit to India at the earliest.

The Indian foreign secretary arrived in Dhaka a day after both countries celebrated “Maitri Diwas” or friendship day in 18 cities worldwide, including Dhaka and New Delhi to commemorate their close ties over the past 50 years.

The external affairs ministry describes India’s ties with Bangladesh as one of the strongest pillars of its “Neighbourhood First” policy.

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